Caring For Elderly And Disabled Is A Family Affair
A new study says almost one out of three adults in the U.S. currently serves as a caregiver. The time and energy they put into caregiving becomes like an unpaid job.
The CLASS Act: A Flawed But Powerful Game-Changer for Long-Term Care
Pay attention to the CLASS Act. It can not only provide better long-term care for those who so desperately need this assistance, it can also become a new way to help those in need in an era of $1 trillion-plus budget deficits. But only if it is done right.
About 11 percent of people ages 60 and older suffer from some kind of abuse every year. But as a part of health care overhaul legislation, lawmakers are taking steps that would for the first time establish a federal beachhead in fighting such abuse.
Why A Little City In Wisconsin Is The Best Place To Die
Nearly all adults who die in La Crosse, Wisconsin, have filled out “advance directives” – explicit instructions on what treatments they do and don’t want at the end of life. The medical ethicist who started the program says “We believe it’s part of good patient care.”
Celebrating A Visionary On Healthy Aging
Dr. Gene Cohen, a geriatric psychiatrist who believed that old age can be a time of creativity, died this week.
We’ll never keep everyone at home. But if we work at it, we can postpone the transition for months or even years.
As Congress Moves To Cut Medicare Advantage Funding, Some Seniors Could Get Reprieve
The Senate Finance Committee calls for cuts in private Medicare plans to help pay for health reform. Some senators on the panel, worried about the 10.5 million seniors in the plans
A Forgotten Health Debate: Funding Long-term Care
Donna Taylor’s father planned ahead – he had insurance and savings to pay for health coverage when he retired. But when he got sick and couldn’t walk, he found he did not have enough coverage to pay for care for himself and his disabled wife.
Baby Boomer Retirement: The News Gets Worse
We are not ready for healthy retirement, and we are desperately unprepared for the costly medical and long-term care we are likely to need in old age.
In not too many years, long-term care nursing home beds may be as rare as Republicans in Massachusetts.
The Predicament of Near-Seniors And Health Reform
The differing interests and preferences of seniors and near-seniors reflect the perils of incremental reform in reaching universal coverage.
Will Long-Term Care Be Included In Health Reform?
The real challenge for long-term care reform remains indifference, rather than outright opposition.
Democrats Are Not The Real Threat To Medicare
A look at Republican efforts to drastically change Medicare in the 1990’s shows that the Democratic health reforms plans aren’t the real threat to the program.
Why Seniors are Health Reform Winners, Not Losers
In truth, seniors are likely to big winners if responsible health reform passes and prime victims if it fails.
We live in a time when seemingly no subject is taboo. Yet, there remains one subject Americans seem unable to talk about in an honest and rational way: the inevitable decline of old age.
What The House Health Bill Says About End-Of-Life Care
Section 1233 of the health overhaul bill approved by three House committees has been the subject of great debate. We present the language as written in the bill itself.
Doctors Providing End of Life Counseling See Benefit in Current Controversy
Physicians, while disputing the charges of plans for euthanasia, say the debate on what is in the House health bill on end-of-life care could help focus attention on an underfunded service.
Get Medicaid Out Of The Long-Term Care Business
While states and the federal government struggle to update Medicaid though a maze of waiver programs and patches to an increasingly outdated law, their efforts are a little like trying to add disc breaks and electronic ignition to a 1965 Plymouth. It is, in the end, still a 1965 Plymouth.
Who Will Care for the Elderly and Disabled?
There are two separate problems that led to the shortage of health care workers to treat the elderly and disabled.
Federal Nursing Home Web Site Attracts Visitors — And Debate
The federal Nursing Home Compare Web site has drawn millions of visitors since it posted movie-review-style ratings of nursing homes last year. Both the industry and consumer advocates are seeking changes, including the way homes’ staffing levels are assessed.
